Dear Brother and Sister Vincentians,

Please share this monthly news with all Vincentians.

ONRC MEETING
Our spring meeting will be held in Etobicoke April 13/14, 2018. This meeting is open to all Vincentians. There are a number of great workshops to choose from on Saturday. The Executive Roundtable on Friday afternoon is an opportunity for you to ask questions of the ONRC Executive team. Feel free to send your questions in advance to linda@ssvp.on.ca. Please register for the meeting by March 23 to help with planning, and book your hotel room before March 12, 2018 to receive the discounted cost of $120 / night by calling. Details can be found on our website under Upcoming Events

We hope to see many of you at the meeting.

SPIRITUAL MATTERS
The March spiritual reflection is a reflection on the healing story of Peter’s mother-in-law.

ANNUAL REPORTS
Due date reminders:
February 28, 2017: Particular Councils to provide annual reports to next higher Council
March 20, 2017: Central Councils to provide annual reports to ONRC
March 30, 2017: ONRC to provide annual report to National

Please email your completed report to terry@ssvp.on.ca and copy sarah@ssvp.on.ca. There is no need to mail a signed copy of the report, but do keep a signed copy for your records. Should you have any questions about completing the annual reports, please contact terry@ssvp.on.ca or sarah@ssvp.on.ca.

ADVOCACY
You will want to check out the presentation made by Danny Bourne at the January 26 Budget Consultation. You can take action by providing a submission at http://ssvp.on.ca/socjus/en/vop.php?page=advocacy1 with the recommendations listed by the Advocacy Committee included in this same link.

SYSTEMIC CHANGE PROJECT
St. John de Brebeuf Conference in Windsor sponsors March tax clinics to help tax filing for our friends in need. According to Catherine St. Pierre, Conference President, this is something that is easy to learn and helps our friends save money on their tax returns. Check out these documents and consider this systemic change project for next year or this year if you still have time to co-ordinate.

LOBLAWS GIFT CARDS
Conferences in York South Particular Council purchase Loblaws gift cards in bulk and receive a discount for purchasing in bulk. These gift cards are good for any purchase in the Loblaws group of grocery stores. They became concerned 2 years ago when some Loblaws stores started carrying alcohol, and they did not want the gift cards being used to purchase alcohol. They wrote to Loblaws about creating a special group of gift cards that could not be used for alcohol; however, no response was received from Loblaws, and a second letter has recently been sent.

The gift cards Loblaws are handing out as partial compensation for the bread price fixing scheme has the restriction that the gift cards cannot be used for purchases of alcohol or cigarettes. Perhaps Loblaws can do the same for gift cards purchased by SSVP Conferences.

Are there other Conferences/Councils who have a similar concern? If so, would you consider sending an email or letter to Loblaws expressing your desire for gift cards that cannot be used to purchase alcohol? Please contact john.deschutter@live.com for more information. ABUSE PREVENTION TRAINING
Have you completed your Abuse Presentation training sessions within your Conferences and Councils, or do you have these training sessions arranged? Please remember this is an insurance requirement, and notify sarah@ssvp.on.ca when this has been completed for your Conferences and Councils. You can find the National training module here. Thank you to Peterborough Particular Council for sharing their simplified training module which can also be found at this same link.

NATIONAL NEWS
Pope Francis has declared the 33rd Sunday of ordinary time as the time when the Church will celebrate ”World Day of the Poor”. This year, that will take place on Sunday, November 18. We believe that the Society should do something in recognition of ”World Day of the Poor”. This is an opportunity to raise visibility and awareness of our Society’s mission and activities, recruit members and do fundraising.

National is looking at organizing a National event in recognition of World Day of the Poor, which we hope to be an annual event moving forward. This will be discussed further at the National Board meeting taking place March 16/17. Please email linda@ssvp.on.ca with your comments and thoughts regarding a potential National event to take place November 18, 2018 which I will share at the Board meeting. Thank you for your input.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Have you had a chance to read the Circular Letter of our 16th President General.

Thank you for all the amazing work you do helping our many friends in need! I am truly touched by the dedication and passion I see in our many Vincentians across the province.

Linda Dollard
President